Cultures
Fantasy Cultures and Religions mod adds many high fantasy races in the form of cultural groups to Europa Universalis 4. Some of these are generic and others are based more on pop culture. * Angels: This culture doesn't exist yet, however is planned to be made in an update. Angels are the protectors of men from Catholicism. Depicted as beautiful winged people of light, they are locked in battle with Demons and Satan until the final battle. In high fantasy they also fight against "monsters" such as Orcs but their primary rival is almost always demons. They are sometimes depicted as evil or not benevolent but not demons, occasionally will be fighting humanity instead of protecting it. * Cultists: Cultist is a broad term for all types of "Evil Men", those that side with monsters or try to tear down the existing world order. Typically they would follow evil and chaotic gods. They are sometimes evil for no reason, sometimes it's just evil acts being done as a justification for some type of utopia. They are almost always depicted as evil, and they are evil here because otherwise they would just be another culture in the "men" cultural group even though there are important distinctions between how normal civilizations operate, and secret cults or secret societies. Evil men, Witches, Warlocks and various types of Cultists based off the elements are cultures in this culture group. They would most likely follow any chaotic or evil god. * Demons Demons are typically depicted as they appear in Christianity (and some other religions), the "evil" corrupters of men and the counter of Angels. Demons use temptation to corrupt men, and will use them like pawns to achieve their own goals. Sometimes depicted as just another side or as a counterpoint to the trends in high fantasy themes. Their evil and chaotic nature means they would most likely follow any chaotic or evil god. They are also once angels themselves in Christian religion. * Draconic Dragons, the typically depiction is that of either the Western 2 winged 4 legged fire-breathing lizard or the Chinese type which is just a benevolent flying snake. For Western culture, Greed is a major dragon trait, more so than just rampant destruction which they are also known for. In same cases, like in Tolkien's work, looking a Dragon directly in the eye is dangerous. They are usually depicted as talkative, intelligent, and able to deceive men, which makes them more dangerous than races that rely on brute force alone. Dragons have force, most likely money, deception, intelligence, and armor, truly, the Dragon is like Man in that they have no specialty, but differ in that they are strong in every aspect more so than some other races while men are usually only average in everything. They tend to live in mountains and caves, probably because they are hunted by the other races. Drakes are including in this culture group even though sometimes, like in Magic: the Gathering, they are considered a completely different race. Dragons could follow any god really, as Dragon-kind can be very diverse, however would most likely follow Rakast, god of greed. * Dwarf Dwarves are short men that tend to live in or around mountains. This is not always the case, so there are many different cultures in this cultural group. They tend to be greedy and adept diggers, sometimes digging too deep, are very proud and honorable. Horo or Xivala would most likely be the god they follow in this mod. * Elven In high fantasy, elves are usually tall, pointy-eared, light-footed immortal/long lived, adept archers that live in forests depending on the world. Some, like Tolkien's, think that long life is a curse, a curse that men want anyways. Elves tend to be adept at magic, especially Dark Elves, which may or may not be evil, and typically live in swamps rather than forests like the other Elves. Elves also usually care deeply about nature, which in EU4 means they will likely use attrition and in this mod would most likely follow Highalos (god of nature) or Marvin (god of magic). Elves can be depicted in many different ways overall. They can be corrupted by magic, against magic, the protectors of the magic left in the world, protect nature, destroy nature, blend into shadows, shine like the sun etc. Elves have many contradictions in how they are written as, but they do specialize in something or the different types of elves will specialize, while Humans tend to always be talented in everything. * Giant A rather broad term in high fantasy considering all the big nasty monsters that exist, they usually describe humans, but larger. Other Giant non-human humanoids like Yeti's are put in this culture as well (due to the lack of any other place to put them that would fit) but Trolls are getting their own culture group as a somewhat more well-known high-fantasy race. Despite this race being one of the closest to humankind, are depicted as evil a lot more than others like Elves or halflings. Generally, they have a lot of brute strength but not as much smarts, are proud and destructive. Almost like really large dwarves. Like some others, they would most likely follow Horo but could equally follow any other god depending on the depiction you are going with. * Goblins Goblins, along with Gremlins, are mischievous small but numerous creatures that are also depicted as being good engineers. They can be very suicidal but come in such large numbers that their leader doesn't really seem to care. They are greedy and would most likely follow Loko or Rakast but could follow any evil and chaotic god, but would not do well following Desra. Their suicidal tendacies led me to the theory that their aggression and form of tactics is really just a form of population control. They are also depicted frequently as helpers or slaves to Dragons, probably because they are both greedy and deceptive. Weakening armies with attrition and crushing them with sheer numbers would be their primary fighting style (basically Russia). This is why Desra, who razes everything and makes development harder, would be a poorer god choice for Goblins, but possible. * Halfling They are basically people... but half the size. They are usually rural or autonomous, humble, and not greedy. They are depicted with pointy ears and hairy large feet with a love for food and plants. They would most likely follow Highalos, but while other gods may not really make sense for a halfling nation, the strategies of other gods would work well. Gnome and Leprechaun, while in this culture group, are slightly different. Leprechauns would follow Rakast or Loko and be greedy, deceptive, and mischievous while Gnomes would be very technological and proud.or mischievous depending on the world. * Half-Men Half men is every human that also has a genetic make-up of some other race. They could look like regular humans, have traits from their genetic makeup, and if they do have visible traits, may hide it to fit in with society, which may or may not discriminate against them. As such the god and strategy would depend on the specific culture. They are far too diverse of a culture group overall to have any specific traits assigned to the entire group. * Kemomimi Kemomimi is Romaji for "Animal Ears" and is typically found in Anime, Manga etc. They are people that have certain animal traits such as cat, dog, fox, etc. ears or tails. Kemomimi are people with animal traits, rather than animals with human-like traits and a humanoid figure. They are depicted in many ways, sometimes having to hide their traits because of society (like Half-Men) or the dominant species. They could follow any god but it would depend on the culture, or you could simply make them Shinto due to their origin in pop culture. * Kobolds Kobolds are like Dwarves and Goblins combined. They are numerous and greedy, care about candles, and are depicted in many different ways. They are adept diggers and are usually found in caves or mines. They would most likely follow Rakast but could follow many different gods. They are monstrous but do not always have evil goals. They are more of a small nuisance that humans try to get rid of but do their own thing, with aggression being limited to anything near mountains in comparison to Goblins and Orcs which usually try to wipe out humans (and other races). * Man They are a representation of us. Human nations are jack of all trades but excel at everything because the individuals will choose what they want to master. Humans are therefore usually a dominant race in high fantasy, although the real reason is that it's easier for connecting to characters. The one thing a human nation will usually excel at compared to other nations is diplomacy... and being able to use their other talents to take advantage of others. Being opportunistic and diplomatic means they can both see and take advantage of weakness while also justifying it, and even worse atrocities. Man is the weak, the weak that can use everything it has to beat any other race despite the odds. Man is best when weak and weakest when strong, which also means that while a specific person isn't durable, the race of men seems to be impossible to get rid of. Men, can follow any gods as a an individual can choose to become anything and excel at it. Other traits humans tend to have is to be adventuresome, and quite infamously, be able to form coalitions against a target, even though they ironically tend to be very divisive and form societal hierarchies. Humans are really just a race of hypocrites and contradictions. The biggest racial trait that Men usually share, is that they are one of the more easily corrupted of the races. While some races are greedy, they may not necessarily want to rule. Men will want power more than money (money is the means to power) and by giving them such, will always abuse it for themselves. Certain races may have subraces that can be more corruptible than men in situations, but overall the race of humans frequently have themselves as their biggest enemy across different worlds while as some, like Elves, may only be highly corrupt in some worlds where it fits the story. * Ogre The original idea that started Orcs, they are usually depicted like ugly giants that eat people and use brute force, but are otherwise pretty dumb. Like dragons, monsters from all around the world would be put under the same classification. In pop culture, they tend to be grey or pale big monsters, sometimes double-headed, that also use magic, even though their dimwittedness seems like It would be a major obstacle for Ogre mages. Ogres tend to be destructive and would likely follow Desra, but could follow any chaotic or evil god and most neutral gods. * Orcs Orcs are an ugly somewhat weaker versions of the Ogre. Despite being weaker in individual strength, they are typically more numerous than Ogres and can form massive armies, their strength means they can outmatch human armies of the same size quite easily, and are usually well-disciplined, tossing out silly ideas of individual freedoms and rights. This makes them the primary rival of humanity in most high fantasy worlds. Orcs are typically evil and destructive, and would be at odds with Highalos. Desra could be an option but it would deter the strategy of massive quality armies which is the Orc's usual tactic. * Undead Dead people that interact with the world but are still dead, even if they look alive, they are in fact dead. This includes ghosts, spirits, and wraiths. Undead are corpses that have been animated, they usually don't have a mind... I mean they are already dead... which means they have perfect discipline and do not have "morale", they will fight until slain. That alone makes them a tough opponent but they also usually have the ability to use the dead of an enemy against them, which means they have potentially unlimited armies. Since they are reanimated, power is highly centralized to the necromancer or lich which also means that despite seemingly having an invincible army, taking out the head leader of such armies would quickly destroy the entire army or at least disorganize it beyond repair. Sometimes a slave to a human necromancer, sometimes to demons, sometimes led by a Death Knight. They would follow realisticly follow any god that is not benevolent, as benevolent gods consider reanimating a dead body to be an evil act. Xivala may be an exception as the god of order, since undead have the absolute most orderly society since they are all slaves. Undead are usually considered evil, even the non-evil undead originate from evil armies usually. In Warcraft undeath is spread by disease, which adds another powerful element to Undead armies. The lack of brain of Undead however means that they should be very technologically disadvantaged and against a modern army would not stand a chance unless they could also use guns. Undead usually cannot use firearms or any advanced weaponry with a concept more complex than "stick the pointy end in the other guy" but exceptions exist. If the undead army is able to use advanced weaponry, then realistically lose the discipline and morale advantage the smarter they become. So the question for undead armies is, use simple weapons and have a massive slave army, or risk becoming more like the living and everything that would include. * Gnolls These dog people that seemed to be started by Dungeons and Dragons are not inherently evil, rather they will do anything to survive and that leads to aggression which appalls the "civilized" who have concepts of morals. Gnolls can be depicted in many ways but the thing that can be agreed on is that they have dog-like traits and appearances. Sometimes they can use magic, a lot of the time they use simple weapons. A Gnoll army would find it hard to create any sort of kingdom without the knowledge of advanced social structuring that the "civilized" world has, and therefore will remain nothing more than some occasional quest target in most cases. Any civilized dog-person like a Gnoll tends to be depicted more like something in the Kemomimi culture group, so this is strictly the aggressive simple-minded Gnolls that this culture group refers to. They could follow almost any god, as they don't have many striking traits that contrast with the nature of a god, except Xivala. * Spiders (Spiderfolk) Being featured prominently in The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings, While other races may do things the civilized world thinks is barbaric, but is really just less advanced, the spiders are true barbarians. They don't have any civilization period, at most they would biologically be able to form simple social structures. They don't think, they do what they think is best for survival. They have absolutely no tech, no ideas, but also no cost for armies. They breed incredibly fast so Spider's main tactic would be to swarm enemies with hundreds of thousands of their kin. If a Spider civilization was to work, It actually has to be different than the smaller spiders we know of which are usually solitary. I imagine any Spider tribe would work like an Ant Hive which is dictated by the biological and don't actually have any sort of ability to think, which is different than all of the other races. Spiders are not overtly aggressive, although this may change if there is some biological change to them, and would tend to stick to their webbed homes and await prey. As such, attrition for invading spider homelands are higher than other races. Spiders would not "follow" any god as religion is an abstract concept they would not be able to grasp, but if they could for whatever reason, (maybe they are more humanoid in the world) then they could follow almost any god. * Birdfolk They are people that can fly. They can appear in many different ways, the most common is that of Harpies, however this culture also includes Griffins and other winged bird-like creatures, excluding dragons. There isn't a whole lot that can be said about this, as it is determined by individual culture and the world. They are usually tribal and some, like Harpies, can be deceptive. Some can use magic, and overall would most likely follow a god of air/wind or a non-benevolent god. * Spellcasters Normally these cultures would be under Man and cultist cultural groups, however due to some things I want to do regarding ideas and events I decided to put all spellcasters in a different category. Spellcasters are people that use magic, as a staple of high fantasy, there are a lot of different ways magic work depending on the world. For one thing, there are 2 main types of magic systems, one is Hard, which means that it is structured has a known set of rules and relies on the fact that everyone knows how it works. This type has a heavy influence on shows, anime etc. probably because of the fact the rules are known and the viewer can understand everything going on. The other major type is a soft magic system. This is the type in books like The Lord of the Rings and Game of Thrones, and relies on being unpredictable. We know there are limits, (and the challenge presented is that the reader or viewer has to be able to clearly understand limits based on what characters say). Soft magic relies on mystery, unpredictability, and the unknown. This can work to make situations more tense (think Bridge of Khazad-Dum) since the same thing is true for others including enemies. There can also be mixes of hard and soft magic that can work differently based on how it's used. Everything else is just how spells are used, it could be innate (people born with the ability to use magic) learned, hereditary etc. It may be something natural, or something that has to be chanted out or even just a simple phrase. artifacts may be a requirement (like a certain ring) or might be needed to enhance or control magic. As part of society, mages are either power-hungry and trying to take over, or they are tyrannical overlords, or they may be co-existing with non-mages and the government, sometimes as the only defense against (list generic monstrous race here). Other times the non spellcasters will band together to oppress mages either out of hate due to previous actions or fear. In cases where the spellcasters are rare, they may be seen both as saviors or a bad omen. For this mod, the idea of how spellcasters work in society comes down to 3 ideologies, oppressed mages, co-existence, or overlord mages. Each one has great benefits to the nation, but be warned that each one can lead to undesired consequences.